The pandemic has changed the college admissions game with respect to standardized testing. For starters, Subject Tests have been discontinued by the College Board, and June will be the last SAT test date with the optional essay. "After that, the College Board said the optional essay will be available only in states where it is required as part of SAT School Day programs." Politico reports.
What's more, with the ACT and SAT still a presence, hundreds of colleges and universities have declared themselves "test-optional," fewer have announced a "test-blind" policy, but among the latter are a few of the most competitive. There has been anxiety among students for months now who have been relying on scuttlebutt and guesswork to predict if they'll be able to sit for a test anywhere near home. I am haunted by the story of a student who endured months of one-on-one prep for the SAT only to see herself shut out of one test center after another in the 2020 cycle. Some students traveled to less-populous areas to take the SAT or ACT, which perhaps spurred more colleges to go "test-optional." After all, testing tourism, if you will, was a PR nightmare for ACT and the College Board/SAT; an enterprise that has long been suspected of bias was now suffering from basic access issues.
Late summer dates are particularly popular with Juniors and Seniors, and 2020 proved to be very, well, 2020. Inside Higher Ed reported that "402,000 students registered to take the SAT and SAT Subject Tests on Aug. 29," but 178,600 students were shut out due to closed testing centers.
The College Board recommends taking the SAT "at least twice—in the spring of their junior year and the fall of their senior year." There are always the students who seize upon those words "at least" and take the test three times or more. Would-be prolific test takers were slowed or shut down by the pandemic. To its credit, ACT offered and still offers a user-friendly database with the most up-to-date test center cancellations.
What can you do? Look towards testing date(s) that might be more likely to run at pre-COVID efficiency and study for your chosen test -- SAT or ACT -- with that date in mind. If you intend to take both the SAT and ACT, the same applies.
President-elect Joe Biden is aiming to have schools able to re-open nationwide by spring as part of initiatives he's undertaking in the first hundred days of his administration. The new administration may not meet that goal, but in the absence of certainty, aim for the dates farthest away from this COVID surge, but also well ahead of 2021 Early Decision/Action dates for the Class of 2022.
SAT dates May 8, 2021, and June 5, 2021, are now open for registration. ACT test dates June 12, 2021, and July 17, 2021, are also accepting students for registration.
With those test dates, you can figure on having enough time in your application timetable to take more tests.
It’s important to note here that test-optional colleges want you to know they mean what they say about the policy; indeed, there are well-known colleges that have been test-optional for a good number of years. The message: students who opt to apply without scores will NOT begin the ballgame 10 runs behind.
Deciding whether or not to have a test score in your application arsenal will have much to do with testing availability, first and foremost (if open SAT and ACT test centers continue to be scarce, assume more colleges will go test-blind.) In a post-pandemic climate, every student must consider their GPA and (pre and post-pandemic) extracurricular activities when considering whether or not to add test scores to the mix. Keep in contact with your high school counselor.